The hosts were fully focussed in the first half against Hoffenheim and succeeded in creating a number of decent chances after winning possession - with the first threats on the TSG net coming from efforts from Dora Zeller (7’) and Viktoria Pinther (12’)
Leverkusen then had the upper hand up to the break. “Hoffenheim were clearly better than us in the first half,” declared Feifel. On 17 minutes, Bayer 04 keeper Anna Klink saved a dangerous effort on goal from Hoffenheim and then kept a clean sheet up to the break. But there was bad news for the Werkself Women in the first half: Jessica Wich pulled up off the ball and went off in pain. The captain had a calf injury.
The hosts were on their toes at the start of the second half. The Feifel team were rewarded for the lightning start with lead on 46 minutes - Dora Zeller scored. However, Hoffenheim did not allow the Bayer 04 lead to hold and Jana Beuschlein netted an equaliser in a break eight minutes later. The Werkself Women looked unsettled with score at 1-1 - and TSG exploited the situation: Jule Brand scored on 63 minutes and the tables were turned. The visitors took control of the game after the hour mark. Lena Lattwein scored from the penalty spot to make it 3-1 at the start of the final fifteen minutes (76’).
The Bayer 04 Women pulled a goal back a few minutes later; Melissa Friedrich converted a spot-kick to make it 3-2 (85’). The Werkself then suffered a double blow. First, Anne Fühner scored on 90 minutes and, just two minutes later, Paulina Krumbiegel rounded off the scoring in added time for the final scoreline of 5-2.
The defeat sees the Bayer 04 Women slip down to seventh in the table. “We have to be a lot calmer in possession and in build-up play. We lose the ball too often and frequently make the wrong decisions. We have to go back being more compact in defence,” explained the coach looking forward to the next opponents.
Next up:
On Sunday 15 November, the Werkself Women are away to SV Meppen on matchday nine in the FLYERALARM Women’s Bundesliga. The kick-off at the bottom-of-the-table side is at 14.00 CET.
Match stats:
TSG Hoffenheim: Dilfer – Brand (Hartig 69’), Naschenweng (Steinert 77’), Rall, Bühler, Wienroither – Harsch (Dongus 77’), Hagel (Krumbiegel 69’), Lattwein – Waßmuth (Fühner 88’), Beuschlein
Bayer 04: Klink – Sahlmann (Kerschowski 46’), Wirtz, Turanyi, Marti (Rackow 84’) – Wich (Csiszár 46’), Brüggemann, Jessen (Kögel 46’) – Zeller, Nikolic, Pinther (Friedrich 46’)
Goals: 1-0 Zeller (46’), 1-1 Beuschlein (54’), 1-2 Brand (63’), 1-3 Lattwein (76’), 2-3 Friedrich (84’), 2-4 Fühner (90’), 2-5 Krumbiegel (90+2’)
Booked: Nikolic (78’) – Dongus (86’)
Referee: Katrin Rafalski (Bad Zwesten)
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